A first for Kenya - 26.2 miles of gold

MEN'S MARATHON Ritzenhein, Hall have best U.S. finish in 32 years

Despite conditions that did not predict a fast time, Kenya's Samuel Wansiru forced the pace from the beginning and held it throughout 26 miles, 385 yards to smash the Olympic record in the men's marathon on a Sunday morning of rising heat and humidity.

In becoming the first Kenyan man to win the Olympic marathon, Wansiru, 21, entered the Bird's Nest to roars from about 60,000 fans and finished in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 32 seconds. The previous Olympic record was 2:09:21 by Carlos Lopes of Portugal in 1984.

"I'm really happy to say I'm the winner from the Beijing Olympics," Wansiru said after running only his third career marathon. "It's history in Kenya. Since 1968, Kenya has tried to get to the medals in marathon and now it's history."

Meanwhile, a few minutes in back of Wansiru, Dathan Ritzenhein and Ryan Hall gave the United States a pair of top-10 finishers for the first time since 1976, when Frank Shorter was second and Don Kardong fourth in Montreal.

Ritzenhein, who rose steadily through the pack as the race progressed on a completely flat course with some shade, broke through the top 10 to finish ninth in 2:11:59. Right behind him in 10th in 2:12:33 was Hall, a 2006 Stanford graduate.

"I was thinking about my feelings out there," Hall said. "I wanted to represent the country as best I could and it pushed me. I saw my family on the side in their Hall T-shirts (as he entered the stadium). It was meaningful. It was a neat experience."

Still, Hall was disappointed he wasn't in medal contention, though he did move up steadily through the field from his position in 42nd place after the first 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) to 10th at 40 kilometers (24.8 miles).

The pace set by Wansiru and a lead pack of runners that dwindled from 10 to five was too daunting in the early going for Hall to join in.

"I did the best I could do," Hall said. "I ran my heart out. It wasn't quite as good as I hoped for. You have to hand it to those guys (the medalists). They ran an incredible race. I didn't think 2:06 was going to be possible. They went out hard and got right after it. If I went out with those guys, I would have died."

Jaouad Gharib of Morocco won the silver medal in 2:07:16. Ethiopia's Tsegay Kebede passed fading countryman Deriba Merga with 250 meters left to claim the bronze medal in 2:10:00.

Ninety-eight runners from 55 countries started the race. Stefano Baldini, the 2004 Olympic champion from Italy, finished 12th in 2:13:25. The third American in the field, Brian Sell, was 22nd in 2:16:07.